While runners were warming up for the start of the Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot on Thursday morning, Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO and race cofounder Carl Guardino announced the race had received an anonymous $500,000 donation, on top of the $750,000 raised by participants for its nonprofit beneficiaries.

I asked Guardino about it afterward and found that the route to the donation had as many turns as the 10K race.

A Silicon Valley tech company CEO heard Guardino speak about the race when he was honored Oct. 16 at the People Acting in Community Together luncheon. Guardino says the CEO told him he was moved by the race's cause and made a $500,000 donation. (Charities supported by the race are Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, the Children's Health Initiative of Santa Clara County and the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County.)

But here's the twist: Guardino shouldn't even have been at the PACT luncheon to provide the spark of generosity. He had just undergone surgery for kidney stones the day before, an operation that would have spurred the rest of us to cancel all our appointments for a week.

By the way, that surgery followed a torn meniscus Guardino suffered while training for the Rock N' Roll Half-Marathon in early October. He still ran the Turkey Trot 5K and finished in 21 minutes.

SUPPORT FOR SANDY VICTIMS: A group of Bay Area musicians will be using their talents to provide relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy with an afternoon and evening of music Sunday at the Cats Restaurant and Tavern in Los Gatos.

Admission to the show is free, but contributions to the American Red Cross are appreciated. The Cats is just off Highway 17 at 17533 Santa Cruz Highway.

LAUGH FOR THE HOLIDAYS: ComedySportz's head funny guy Jeff Kramer is aiming for Santa's "nice" list: The competitive improv troupe has a benefit show for Christmas in the Park scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at Camera 3 in downtown San Jose.

Tickets to the "Reindeer Games" show are $15 for adults and $12 for students, seniors and military members. Click on "tickets" at www.comedysportzsanjose.com or call 408-985-5233.